A Little Fish That’s a Big Business Escapes Proper Management

We often talk about the more glamorous fish that reside in and visit our local waters. We’ve got bluefin tuna, striped bass, bluefish, fluke, and flounder attracting our undivided attention, and not only when it comes to who is catching what and how much of it and where. These fish also are in the spotlight when it comes to regulation.

But there is a fish that adds as much, and some would say more, value to our day-to-day living than any of those species do: the menhaden. It’s a fish also known in these parts as pogy or bunker. (Someday I am going to write about the peculiarities of the many different names we give fish. But I digress.)

Menhaden are small schooling fish in the herring family and are crucial to both marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries.

Almost every larger predatory animal that swims consumes menhaden. Not only that, they prefer menhaden and seek them out. One of the reasons we don’t have as many commercial-size striped bass around here recently is that the menhaden are north and west of us. Reports from farther offshore are that the larger bass have been out there, too, feeding on them.

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